2. Why do you have to be concerned about field relations throughout the study and not just at the beginning? So what? Why make such a big deal about relationships at all?

3. How do you decide how much to participate and how much to observe?

4. What do you think about using your subjectivity and feelings rather than pretending you can stamp it out or simply feel victimized by it? How are you dealing with your subjectivity as a practitioner? As an inquirer?

5. What do you think about the idea of researcher as instrument- your eyes, ears, thoughts, interests, etc. as the filters through which all data are gathered and processed. What are the implications for the quality of data you collect? What filters do you think you have?

6. What differences do you see between yourself as an insider inquirer in your practitioner setting and how you would perform as an inquirer in a setting in which you were an outsider (such as an unusual culture in another part of the world)?

7. What similarities do you see between yourself as an insider inquirer in your practitioner setting and how you would perform as an inquirer in a setting in which you were an outsider (such as an unusual culture in another part of the world)?

8. What relationships do you see between the relation-building activities discussed in this chapter and the other activities described in the qualitative inquiry process?

9. Why is development of the inquirer role better described as a negotiation than as an inquirer decision?

Suggested Activities

1. Write in your field notes (audit trail section might be a good place) a description at this point in your study of your existing relationships with specific people in your inquiry setting. Address the following:
*How conducive or limiting are each of these relationships to your learning and inquiry?
*How protective are people around you of what they are about?
*How isolated are you and the others there?
*What are you doing to create a community of trust and sharing?
*What roles have you already negotiated or assumed?
*What other roles are possible and what would be the implications for your inquiry and for your educating responsibilities of taking on those roles?
*What will you need to do in terms of developing relationships and roles to really get at the inquiry issues that are developing for you in this project?